Step 1 – Please check the eligibility criteria, required documents, and Frequently Asked Questions.
Step 2 – Complete and submit the online application form
Required documents
Required documents:
It will be necessary for you to prepare the following information in an appropriate format and include it in your online application:
- Valid Trade License / Business License for each of the members.
- Passport / Emirates ID of the authorized signatory.
- Proof of authorization for the authorized signatory.
- Monthly turnover declaration for the specified periods that is signed and stamped by the authorized signatory on the entity’s printed letterhead, and supporting financial documents such as: invoices, purchase orders, title deeds, and lease agreements.
- Group structure showing the representative member and the group members (stamped and signed by the authorized signatory).
- Stamped and signed no objection letters from each of the members to authorize the representative member to represent the group.
- A copy of the legislation that establishes the entity in case the registration request was in relation to a federal / local government entity. Depending on the basis on which you are registering, other relevant documents may include:
- For taxable supplies (applicable for all legal types except Federal and Emirate Government)
- Audit report audited or non-audited financial statement.
- Self-prepared calculation sheet which may include details to calculate the taxable/zero-rated supplies based on financial records
- Revenue forecast with evidence (e.g., Local Purchase Order or Contract)
- Monthly turnover declaration for the specified periods that is signed and stamped by the authorized signatory on the entity’s printed letterhead
- Supporting financial documents (e.g., invoices/LPOs/contracts/title deed/tenancy contracts)
- For taxable expenses (applicable for all legal types except Federal and Emirate Government)
- Audit report, audited or non-audited financial statement
- Expense budget report
- Articles of Association/Partnership Agreement (if applicable)
- Certificate of Incorporation (if applicable for Legal Person)
- Documents which show ownership information of the business
- Customs details (if applicable)
- Club, charity or association registration documents and supporting evidence (applicable if you selected “Legal person – Club, Charity or Association”)
- A copy of the Decree (applicable if you selected “Legal person – Federal UAE Government Entity” or “Legal person – Emirate UAE Government Entity”)
- Other relevant documents such as documents providing information about your organization, including its activities and size (applicable if you selected “Legal person – Other”)
- A scanned copy of the Emirates ID and passport of the manager, owner and senior management
- A scanned copy of the land/property title deed (applicable if you selected “Legal Person – Incorporate/Legal Person – Club or Association/Legal Person – Charity/Legal Person – Federal UAE Government Entity/Legal person – Emirate UAE Government Entity”)
Accepted file types are PDF, JPG, PNG and JPEG. The individual file size limit is 5MB.
Required Forms:
Below are the templates that you may need to complete and upload as part of your application (for declaring your turnover required for the registration purposes):
- Taxable supplies – Turnover declaration template
- Taxable expenses – Turnover declaration template
- Turnover declaration letter form
Q&A
1. Can a VAT Tax Group be formed if the total taxable supplies of the members of the group are less than the mandatory threshold?
A VAT Tax Group cannot be formed if total taxable supplies, imports of concerned goods, and imports of concerned services by the members of the group do not exceed the mandatory registration threshold.
2. Is it possible to add sole establishments or branches to the VAT Tax Group as a member?
It is not possible to add sole establishments or branches to the VAT Tax Group as a member, as they and their owner are regarded as the same person for tax purposes. Tax Group members may update the member registration with necessary details about the sole establishments or branches via the VAT amendment application. The details shall be reflected in the Tax Group registration certificate.
3. Is it a prerequisite that all members are previously registered for VAT in the UAE?
No, it is not a prerequisite that all members are previously registered for VAT in the UAE.
4. Are there any restrictions on the type of business who can form a VAT Tax Group?
A VAT Tax Group may not be allowed in the following cases:
a. Where one member is a charity under Article 57 of the Decree-Law and the other is not
b. Where one member is a Government Entity specified under Article 10 and 57 of the Decree-Law and the other is not
5. Who can submit the application to FTA?
The application can be submitted to FTA by you i.e. the representative member of the Tax Group, your tax agent or legal representative
6. What is a representative member of the VAT Tax Group?
The representative member is a member of the VAT Tax Group who represents all other members of the Tax Group. The group’s tax returns are filed in the name of the representative member.
7. What is TINVG number?
TINVG is an abbreviation of Tax Identification Number VAT Group. This is a unique number assigned when a person submits a VAT registration application for the purpose of creating or joining a VAT Tax Group.
8. What happens with the current VAT registration number (i.e. TRN) of the member businesses?
Existing TRNs shall be suspended once the already registered businesses are added in the Tax Group.
9. Should a VAT registered business that has newly joined a Tax Group as a member need to file a final return?
es. The newly joined member may be required to submit a final return for the tax period ending on the date it joined the Tax Group.
10. Can FTA reject the application for VAT Tax Group?
The FTA may refuse an application to form a VAT Tax Group where it considers that there is a significant risk of decrease in the tax revenue for the FTA.
11. Can I save the application as a draft to be updated later? If yes, for how long?
Yes, you can save the in-progress application as a draft and complete it at a later point in time. However, if you do not submit your application within 60 calendar days of initiating it, your application will be automatically cancelled. There will be reminder notifications sent to your registered email/verified mobile.
12. What is the estimated time to complete application review by the FTA?
Generally, the estimated time to complete the application by the FTA is 20 business days from the date the completed application was received by the FTA. However, in case where any additional information is needed, FTA may take additional time to process the application. The applicant needs to provide the additional information and re-submit the application. It may take the FTA a further 20 business days to respond to the updated application. If the application is not resubmitted within 60 calendar days from the date you received the notification from FTA, the application shall be auto-rejected.
13. What will happen once the application is submitted to the FTA?
1. Processing your application:
a) Your application will now be reviewed by the FTA. If we require more information to assist with our review, we will contact you by email. You will need to provide the information requested in order for us to continue processing your application.
b) Once we have completed our review, we will either approve or, in some cases, may have to reject the application. We will notify you by email of our decision.
c) Where we reject an application, we will provide you with the reasons for doing so. You may re-apply but only once you have resolved the matters brought to your attention
2. VAT Tax Group registration certificate:
a) Following approval of the Tax Group registration application, the representative member of the Tax Group will be sent the Tax Group’s Registration Number (TRN) via email. The representative member can download the VAT Tax Group registration certificate from their EmaraTax account.
14. How to check the status of the submitted application with the FTA?
The application status can be viewed on the applicant’s dashboard in EmaraTax.The following provides a summary of the application statuses:
• Drafted: the application form has not been completed or submitted by the applicant
• In Review: the application form has been received by FTA and is under processing
• Awaiting Information: FTA is awaiting for additional information from the applicant
• Rejected: the application form has been rejected by the FTA
• Approved: the application means the application form has been approved by the FTA and the applicant’s tax records have been successfully updated
15. What happens if a representative member adds a prospective member to the VAT Tax Group who does not have a TRN/ TINVG?
On approval of the VAT Tax Group registration application, a TRN/TINVG as the case will be issued to the newly added member and linked to the representative member’s EmaraTax online user account. The representative member can later link the member’s TRN/TIINVG to the member’s EmaraTax online account once it has been created.
16. What turnover details are required to be provided as part of the VAT Tax Group registration application?
Representative member should provide the group’s taxable supplies and expenses (including transactions between the groups members) in the application.
17. What is a Tax Group controller?
A Group Controller can be an individual, corporate body or partnership who controls the group. This is either:
• The controlling member of the group who controls all of the proposed members of the group (this can be different from the representative member).
• Someone outside the group, be it another corporate body, an individual or a partnership who controls each of the proposed members.
18. What do you mean by related parties to form a Tax Group for VAT purposes?
For the purposes of forming a Tax Group for VAT purposes the definition of related parties shall mean the following:
1. Related party means any two legal persons in instances such as:
a. One Person or more acting in a partnership and having any of the following:
1) Voting interests in each of those legal Persons of 50% or more.
2) Market value interest in each of those legal Persons of 50% or more.
3) Control of each of those legal Persons by any other means.
b. Each of Persons is a related party with a third Person.
2. Two or more persons shall be considered related parties if they are associated in economic, financial, and regulatory aspects, considering the following:
a. Economic practices, which shall include at least one of the following:
1) Achieving a common commercial objective.
2) One Person’s Business benefiting another Person’s Business.
3) Supplying of Goods or Services by different Businesses to the same customers.
b. Financial practices, which shall include at least one of the following:
1) Financial support given by one Person’s Business to another Person’s Business.
2) One Person’s Business not being financially viable without another Person’s Business.
3) Common financial interest in the proceeds.
c. Regulatory practices, which shall include any of the following:
1) Common management.
2) Common employees whether or not jointly employed.
3) Common shareholders or economic ownership.
3. For the purposes of the above
a. “Market value interest” in a legal person shall be calculated as the percentage of the market value of shares and options a person owns over total market value of all shares in the legal person.
b. Any shareholding will be disregarded if there exists another agreement, which contradicts it. In that case, the shareholding will be treated as the adjusted value under that other agreement.
